Distractions
by Overlyinspired
Summary: When Itachi mourns, Kisame decides that it is his duty to cheer his partner up.


A/N:…I wish to not be shot, so hear me out before the javelins and such come flying my way! ::takes shelter under a table:: So…I know that I haven't updated in forever, and I'm annoyed at myself for that…but stuff happened…and then my laptop got a virus and Windows had to be reinstalled and everything was deleted! ::sob:: I loves you all, especially if you're bothering to read this craptastic fic I wrote when I was extremely sleep-deprived.

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"What are you doing?" Kisame asked, sitting down next to his smaller partner. Itachi didn't look at him.

"Thinking," He tossed a pebble into the lake in front of them.

"About what? The mission? We've got it covered!" Kisame quieted when Itachi didn't respond. "No? What's wrong, then?" Itachi didn't respond for a good while, and all that could be heard was the chirping of cicadas in the summer heat.

"It's his birthday," Itachi said softly. Kisame blinked a few times, and then realized what Itachi was talking about.

"Oh. How old is he?"

"Fourteen." Kisame hesitated for a minute before he wrapped an arm around Itachi's shoulders. Itachi turned to hide his face in Kisame's shoulder. Kisame tactfully ignored the tears that he could feel running down his arm.

"It's okay, Itachi. You did the right thing,"

"I didn't and I know it," Itachi said roughly. "I could have gone to someone, I could have done something, I could have told him…" Kisame began to stroke Itachi's hair with one hand, holding him close with the other.

"Well, you didn't. I think you did pretty well anyway, though," Itachi gave him a suspicious look.

"Why?"

"Because if you hadn't killed them all and become an S-class criminal and joined Akatsuki, you wouldn't have met me," Kisame swore that Itachi snorted quietly before he lightly smacked Kisame's arm.

"Sentimental," He muttered. Kisame laughed. It wasn't like Itachi had any room to talk on that subject.

"Excuse me, who was I trying to cheer up? Myself?" Itachi scowled at him before jamming his elbow into Kisame's ribs. Kisame ignored the sharp jab and continued to pet Itachi's hair. He knew that his partner would relax after a few minutes…as expected, Itachi stopped glaring about five minutes later and just relaxed into the stroking. Kisame took a moment to marvel at Itachi's similarity to a cat before he stood. Itachi looked up at him.

"Where are you going?" He asked mildly. Kisame took off his cloak and weapons pouch and grinned at Itachi.

"Where else? The water! Cannonball!" He leapt into the lake, which created a massive wave. The now-soaked Itachi glared at his partner and brushed his sodden bangs out of his eyes.

"Was that really necessary?" He demanded. Kisame only grinned again.

"Of course," Itachi grumbled several uncomplimentary things as he wrung the water out of his ponytail. He stood and began to wring water from his long cloak.

"C'mon, Itachi, have some fun. When was the last time that you went swimming?" Kisame wheedled shamelessly.

"Years ago, since you know that I dislike water," Itachi turned away and continued to futilely attempt to dry his cloak. Kisame couldn't resist the opportunity and splashed his partner. Itachi whirled, glaring. He began to make hand signs. Kisame immediately dove underwater. He knew what was coming. A massive fireball whooshed over the lake, evaporating the first few inches of water. Kisame hesitantly resurfaced. Itachi was standing there, glaring at him with burning Sharingan eyes. Kisame couldn't help but mentally cringe at how unfocused his partner's gaze was. Itachi's eyes were worse than he had claimed.

"Now, Itachi, what did the poor lake ever do to you?" Kisame had to dive under again as another fireball filled the air.

"Shut up," Itachi hissed when Kisame surfaced again. Kisame ignored him in favor of looking around the lake. Several unfortunate fish had been too close to the surface when Itachi had attacked.

"Well, you just found lunch," Kisame tossed said fish to his partner's feet. Itachi sighed and sat down on a convenient rock. "Ah, don't worry about your cloak. The ridiculous heat will dry you out in a few minutes,"

"I hate being wet," Itachi grumbled.

"Meh, you'll be okay," Kisame pulled himself out of the lake and absently wrung out the hem of his shirt. Itachi glared at him for a couple minutes, but relaxed when Kisame started to cook lunch over a small (relatively) fire that Itachi had made.

"Kisame?"

"Hm?"

"You've been to distract me, haven't you?"

"Yup."

"…Thanks."

"No problem. Want some fish?"

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A/N:…Ah…review? ::puppy eyes:: Btw, it's Sasuke's birthday, if you didn't guess. It's July 23 (if I remember correctly).


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